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'UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE HELEN C. TRAPHAGEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LADY S SKIRT.

Specicationof Letters Patent No. 17,241, dated May 5, 1857.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known' that I, I-IELEN G. TRAPHAGEN, of the city, county, andState of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Skirtsor Petticoats for Ladies Wear; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description ofthe same, reference beinghadto the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference markedthereon.

The nature of my invention consists in attaching to the body of a skirtor petticoat a series of air-tight tubes to be inflated with air for thepurpose of expanding the surface of the skirt to give a set to the dresssimilar to that effected by the use of hoops, cords and other devicesnow in use.

The accompanying drawing presents a perspective view of the skirt withits attached air tubes.

A is the body of the skirt, made of linen, muslin or any of the othermaterials usually employed for the purpose, and of such size and shapeas may suit the requirements of the wearer.` B, Bl B B" a series ofairtight tubes, formed of rubber cloth, oiled silk or other suitablematerial that is impervious to air. Each, of the three lower tubes ismade equal in length to the circumference of the portion of the skirt towhich it is attached for the purpose of giving to the skirt its fullmeasure of expansion and spread, while the upper one is cut olf for aportion of its length to permit the upper part of the skirt to be openedand spread apart the more readily to be placed upon the body of thewearer. The tubes may be attached to and held in place upon the body ofthe skirt by gumming them to the cloth or inclosing them in a piece ofcloth sewed to the body of the skirt or by any other means that may bepreferred.

C, C', C, are a series of vertical tubesmade of the same material as theother tubes-to connect the tubes B, B B B together, and which opens intothem, so

that the whole of the tubes may be iniated and expanded at oneoperation. D a stopvalve, closing air-tight, through which the tubes areinated by air blown from the mouth-when they are properly filled thevalve is closed and the air is retained and confined in them untilreleased by the opening of the valve.

I do not confine myself to the use of any particular number ofhorizontal tubes, nor to the use of the vertical connecting tubes, asthe horizontal tubes may be used independent of each other, and befilled and eX- panded separately by placing a stop valve on each one ofthem.V l

The purpose of expansion effected by my improvement is now attained bythe use of cords, hoops, canes, steel springs and other appliances, someof which are objectionable on account of their rigidity and others onaccount of their weight being oppressive to the wearer, which objectionsare evidently overcome by my improvement, as it is not only much lighterin weight than those in which the articles named'are used, but is alsoperfectly elastic in its conformation and can be compressed togetherwith slight effort by its wearer in case of mud, and will return to itsoriginal position on the removal of the pressure, and does notdiscompose or disarrange the dress of the wearer when sitting down withit, and can be folded and packed up in a small space when not in use bypermitting the air to escape from the tubes by opening the stop valve.

What I cla-im as my invention :and desire to -secure by Letters Patentis- The attachment of a series of air-tight tubes to the body of' askirt or petticoat, to expand and set out the skirt when the said tubesare filled with air, as and for the purposes herein set forth. i

H. C. TRAPIIAGEN. litnesses J. W. GREEN, FRANCIS S. Low.

